Forgive Yourself
by Meraki7734
Summary: Remember in ‘A Grim Retreat’ Hookfang bites Snotlout while not in his right mind? I decided to do an aftermath of this, why? Because I felt like it, plus the idea wouldnt leave my head. Rated K for mentions of... blood (not a lot). Snotfang, but you knew that. For PutMoneyInThyPurse, because they are lovely.


**Disclaimer: What makes you think I own any of this?**

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_Teeth ripping human flesh._

"Hookfang."

_Blood filling senses._

"I don't blame you."

_Desire to kill, bite._

"Look at me."

_Insects leaving body, biting Snotlout skin._

_Hookfang let go in shock, horrified. He was hurt, bleeding, because of _him_._

"It doesn't hurt!"

_Hookfang tried to take breath, choking as he realized they were in water. They would drown. Quickly, he put his snout under his rider and started swimming up._

"It's not even that deep!"

_Bursting into the air, Snotlout on neck, safe from teeth._

Snotlout let out a grunt of frustration.

_Rider giving a victorious yell, Hookfang only feels guilt and fear. He hurt him. He hurt Snotlout._

Now they were back at the Edge, in Snotlout's nest. Hookfang was clenching his teeth, eyes closed, he could still faintly taste human blood.

He felt his rider's paw touch his scales, he flinched away. Snotlout gave some sort of whimpering noise. _He hurt him_.

"Hooky..."

_No._

"Hookfang." A little firmer this time. _His rider was mad at him._

A fist wrapped around his nose horn, Hookfang tried to pull away, but his rider held on. "Look at me Fangster."

Hookfang did, the human's eyes were full of sorrow and worry. He couldn't look away, those darn hatchling eyes. Snotlout rested his other hand on the dragon's snout.

Snotlout's eyes narrowed. "You didn't mean it."

_I still hurt you._

"I barely feel it."

_You were bleeding._

"It's already scabbed over.

_I could've sunk deeper._

"You would never harm me on purpose."

_I did winters ago._

"You would never _hurt_ me on purpose."

_I've dropped you from the sky without care._

"I don't blame you."

_I know you don't. _Stupid humans, Snotlout was an idiot and prideful, but he was selfless and loyal.

"Hookfang."

_Yes?_

"I don't blame you, I forgive you, so stop blaming yourself."

Hookfang cringed, he was an open dragon to his rider, Snotlout could see everything that bothered him in one glance.

His human tugged his head closer to his, glaring at him. "Hear me you big reptile? I don't blame you, it _wasn't. Your. Fault._"

The Nightmare gave a low rumble. _How?_

Snotlout huffed, clearly getting tired of this. "You weren't in control! None of the dragons were!"

_None of them hurt _their_ riders._

Snotlout grunted, rolled his eyes and right about when Hookfang was going to tilt his head questioningly, he found himself pinned to the ground by his horns. Just like that, most of the stress left his body, damn his rider.

"You're not to blame, so get that into your thick head!"

Hookfang felt some of his guilt turn into irritation. "I am!"

Now, Snotlout couldn't understand dragonese but obviously knew what he was saying. "Name one reason it should be your fault!"

The dragon turned his pinned head as much as he could towards his human. "It was my teeth!"

The viking growled slightly and repositioned himself. Then the Nightmare was surprised when he found his maw forced open, he was about to snap it shut when Hookfang got the overwhelming scent of human flesh. His eyes widened, his rider had put his arm in his open mouth.

"See this? _This _is my trust! I _know_ that _you_ would never bite down. It was the grimora's fault! They were controlling you! It won't even leave a scar! Personally, _I _think that you were managing to fight back! If you hadn't, your teeth could've sank in much deeper. So let's move past this and stop _dwelling_ on it."

Hookfang lay there, frozen as he stared into the burning blue eyes of Snotlout. _Did he really mean it?_

Snotlout wrenched his arm from the dragon's mouth and glared at the nightmare. "Why are you so determined to blame yourself?" His rider's voice cracked a little, inaudible to human ears. Hookfang felt a tug at his chest, he hated how his rider had this power over him. "The blood didn't even flow, a little cut won't hurt me."

Yet that was the problem, a little longer and Hookfang could've snapped his human's spine, effectively killing him. He cringed, igniting concern in his rider, though he didn't show it. Snotlout frowned, not liking how his dragon was shutting himself off from the world, from him. "Hooky. look at me." The Nightmare opened their eyes, watching the Viking warily. Not of mistrust, simply unsure of their next move.

Snotlout let go of his dragon's horns, letting the Nightmare turn his head towards him. "If you want to make it up to me," Hookfang looked at his rider worriedly and hopefully, _make it up?_ "Then forgive yourself like I've forgiven you." His pupils narrowed, a jolt of shock coursing through his body. He gave a pathetic whining sound, forgiveness? Snotlout forgave him, but why? Forgive himself, for nearly killing his rider? His brother? How could he?

Snotlout sighed, it seemed he would have to pull the big cannons out. "Hooky, remember the time with the Fireworm queen?" Snotlout flinched slightly as he remembered it, definitely not a happy memory. Hookfang cocked his head slightly, looking at him in concern. Probably wondering why he was bringing it up. "How you almost..." Snotlout trailed off, getting a queasy feeling in his stomach, he shook himself. "Well, we both almost killed each other without meaning to."

The Nightmare tilted his head, _but I've forgiven you_?

Snotlout nodded, looking slightly uneasy. "You forgave me, but I haven't forgiven myself." Hookfang widened his eyes and squawked.

_What do you mean? You were an idiot yes, but you weren't aware of the consequences! _ Snotlout took a deep breath, wincing slightly.

"Now, I've forgiven you for this, so how about we make a compromise?" The dragon blinked, slightly confused. A compromise?

Now Snotlout shuffled his hands slightly, starting to look insecure. "We both want the other to forgive themselves, right?" Hookfang bobbed his head, a spark of understanding glinted in his eyes, starting to get where his rider was going with this.

"So, how about we both agree to forgive ourselves and put this whole mess behind us?" The Nightmare thought it over, most of his body relaxed due to having his horns pinned down. If he agreed, Snotlout would lose the stress of blaming himself, but he would have to forgive himself when he deserved the suffering. At least he thought so, however, if he disagreed, Snotlout would continue to be putting pointless blame on himself. Not to mention it would make Snotlout happy if he forgave himself... Hookfang huffed, seeing the only choice he really had. Giving a defeated sigh, the dragon nodded.

Snotlout gave a large grin, only a tiny bit smug. "Great! Now that that's behind us, what do you say to a flight? We could catch some mackerel while we're out!" Hookfang gave a draconic smile, now that was an offer he couldn't pass up.

Saddling up, Snotlout gave his dragon a pat on his neck and climbed on. Easing their way through the doors, they both took a breath of fresh, salty air. Taking a glance at each other, they grinned as one, emotions swirling in their eyes. Only they could read each other, seeing as they've been partners for years. Snotlout looked around at the sky above, deeming it fit for flying.

Lightly nudging his Nightmare, Snotlout Hookfang took to the skies. A distant call of 'Snotlout, Hookfang, oi oi oi!' sounded in the distance.

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**Now, I realize this might have been a little rushed, but I didn't want to spend too long on this. I have two other projects I'm currently working on, one won't begin to be posted until I have at least three chapters ready. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading! :D**

**Ps. I've been finishing this up on mobile so enjoy dashes as line breaks.**


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